After the tour, Snake Eyes led Jess to his personal practice space. He had noticed something was off was off about her, she wasn't her usual energetic, carefree self. It was hard for him not to pull her into a hug, or ask her what was wrong, but he knew she had always hated that sort of thing. Instead, every time she was feeling down, it would cheer her up to spar with him or Storm Shadow.

Walking into the separate room, a smile tugged at his lips at the look on her face. The walls were white, the floor a soft wrestling mat. On the far wall there were all kinds of weapons, from throwing stars to katanas. In all three of the corners not connected to the door, there were large punching bags. He had designed this room for her if she ever came to G.I. Joe, so he was really happy that she liked it.

He watched as her eyes danced across the large practice space before landing on her very own katana he had put up earlier. Without a moment's hesitation, she walked towards the black handled, freshly sharpened weapon, talking to out of its sheath to make sure it was not damaged. Running her hand over the cold metal, a relaxed smile appeared on her lips, she always did feel safer with a weapon in her hands.

Snake Eyes took a step towards his old friend. "Are you feeling better?" He signed.

She nodded reluctantly. "Yeah. Can I ask you something?"

He tilted his head a little at the nervousness in her voice, but nodded.

"Why was I brought here? And where even is here?" She questioned him, trying to sound relaxed, but he knew her better than that.

He let out a small sigh, deciding it would be better to tell her the truth. "After I was told that you were dead, I refused to believe Storm Shadow." He stopped briefly when he noticed the slight scrunch of confusion that she got, but he continued before she could notice. She would shut herself off from him if she knew that he was worried. "So, after confirming the information, I got Breaker to run a continual check on you. After you appeared again, I was the one who wanted you brought here, not Hawk. So for a year I searched for you, and here you finally are." He stopped when he finally finished, he had never talked that much to anyone. Then again, she wasn't just anyone.

At first Jess didn't move, just processed what he just said. When she did, she took a step away from him, terrified of the man before her. In the year that she could remember, she had assumed that everybody in her past wanted her so they could use her. She didn't want to be used, she ran away from the people who wanted her for selfish reasons. She had to get away from this place, away from him.

Snake Eyes started to panic as he watched his friend suddenly run from the room. Not knowing what to do, he ran after her. After a few minutes of chasing her, she finally hesitated when she was stared down by the vast dessert, and when she did he tackled her. She started to kick and punch, but he quickly pinned her. When she managed to calm down, all the energy left her body in a flood. He didn't let her go or loosen his grip though, he knew from past experiences that she could strike at any moment, ready or not.

Looking into her eyes, he could see the pain and anger from the past clearly. Something happened in the time she disappeared, something someone would have to pay for. What he had to do was find out was what that something was, and who did it to her. Looking at her like this, she was far from strong and confident person he once knew.

Not being able to stand the look for too long he pressed the pressure point, quickly sedating terrified girl in front of him. He then carried her to his room so that he could keep an eye on her. Getting to the lounge, the rest of his team gave him identical looks of confusion.

"Who is that?" Heavy Duty asked with his heavy British accent.

Scarlet cleared her throat, making the two guys look to her. "That's Jessica, the girl that Snake was told to give a tour too."

"So that's Jess?" Breaker turned to Snake for confirmation.

Snake nodded in agreement before walking to his room. Heavy Duty walked over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. Getting his hint, Snake reluctantly handed Jess to him so that he could punch in the code.

"Tell us what happened after you get her settled in." The huge guy commanded while handing the sleeping girl back to Snake Eyes.

As a sign he understood, he nodded as he turned to get her comfortable. He placed her down on him bed and tucked her in. Pushing the hair from her face, he studied her features. With her milky skin, and her long straight honey brown hair, she had been as different from their clan then he had. It had been shortly after he had joined his new family that they had also adopted her. At first she was quiet and withdrawn, nobody wanting to talk to her due to her deep blue eyes watching every move you made, making it seem as though she could see right through you.

It even took him a month just to be able to approach her. When he did, he was surprised at the smile she gave him, one full of kindness. It didn't take long for him to get attached; once you got to know her well enough, she was full of energy and surprises. The only downside was that Storm Shadow also decided to befriend the young beautiful girl, causing their fights to get even more intense. When she decided to train with the two boys, that's when they truly started to hate each other, they both wanted to keep the girl they had grown attached to, to themselves.

What hurt Snake Eyes the most though, is that she always refused to believe that is was Storm Shadow who killed their hard master. She even followed the traitor to make sure he was okay, and grew sad that she wasn't able to catch up to him. She was too nice and trusting for her own good, one of these days Storm Shadow would hurt her worse them she already was.

Scarlett's voice brought him out of the past and his worries. "Snake?" He turned from where he was still leaning over his dear friend, to look at the girl leaning against his door frame. "Are you okay?"

He nodded quickly before leaving Jess' side, walking back to the lounge where his team awaited the answers to their pressing questions.

Third chapters up, what did you guys think? Please review! I am always looking for feedback, and for new ideas.